Background iof ithe istudy

Compared ito iother ibuilding

imaterials isuch ias i imetals
iand ipolymers, iconcrete iis i
isignificantly i
more ibrittle iand i iexhibits i ia
ipoor itensile istrength. i iBased
i ion ifracture itoughness
ivalues, i isteel iis iat i
least i i100 i itimes i imore i
iresistant ito i icrack i igrowth i
ithan iconcrete. i iConcrete i iin
i iservice i ithus i icracks i
easily i iand i ithis i icracking i
icreates i ieasy i iaccess i iroutes
i ifor i ideleterious i iagents i
iresulting i iin i iearly i
saturation, ifreeze-thaw
idamage, iscaling, idiscoloration
iand isteel icorrosion.
Compared ito iother ibuilding
imaterials isuch ias i imetals
iand ipolymers, iconcrete iis i
isignificantly i
more ibrittle iand i iexhibits i ia
ipoor itensile istrength. i iBased
i ion ifracture itoughness
ivalues, i isteel iis iat i
least i i100 i itimes i imore i
iresistant ito i icrack i igrowth i
ithan iconcrete. i iConcrete i iin
i iservice i ithus i icracks i
easily i iand i ithis i icracking i
icreates i ieasy i iaccess i iroutes
i ifor i ideleterious i iagents i
iresulting i iin i iearly i
saturation, ifreeze-thaw
idamage, iscaling, idiscoloration
iand isteel icorrosion.
Compared ito iother ibuilding
imaterials isuch ias i imetals
iand ipolymers, iconcrete iis i
isignificantly i
more ibrittle iand i iexhibits i ia
ipoor itensile istrength. i iBased
i ion ifracture itoughness
ivalues, i isteel iis iat i
least i i100 i itimes i imore i
iresistant ito i icrack i igrowth i
ithan iconcrete. i iConcrete i iin
i iservice i ithus i icracks i
easily i iand i ithis i icracking i
icreates i ieasy i iaccess i iroutes
i ifor i ideleterious i iagents i
iresulting i iin i iearly i
saturation, ifreeze-thaw
idamage, iscaling, idiscoloration
iand isteel icorrosion. i
i
The iconcerns iwith ithe
iinferior ifracture itoughness iof
iconcrete iare ialleviated ito ia
ilarge iextent i
by i ireinforcing i iit i iwith i
ifibers i iof i ivarious i
imaterials. i iThe i iresulting i
imaterial i iwith i ia i irandom i
distribution iof ishort,
idiscontinuous ifibers iis
itermed ifiber ireinforced
iconcrete i(FRC) iand iis
islowly i
becoming ia iwell iaccepted
imainstream iconstruction
imaterial. iSignificant iprogress
ihas ibeen imade i
in i ithe i ilast i ithirty i iyears i
itowards i iunderstanding i ithe i
ishort i iand i ilong-term i
iperformances i iof i ifiber i
reinforced i icementitious i
imaterials, i iand i ithis i ihas i
iresulted i iin i ia i inumber iof i
inovel i iand i iinnovative i
applications. i
i
Concrete iis ione iof ithe imost
iversatile ibuilding imaterials.
iIt ican ibe icast ito ifit iany
istructural i
shape i ifrom i ia i icylindrical i
iwater i istorage i itank i ito i
iarectangular i ibeam i ior i
icolumn i iin i ia i ihigh i irise i
building. i iThe i iadvantages i
iof iusing i iconcrete i iinclude i
ihigh i icompressive i istrength,
i igood i
fireresistance,high iwater
iresistance, ilow imaintenance,
iand ilong iservice ilife. i
i
Thedisadvantages i iofusing i
iconcrete i iinclude i ipoor i
itensile i istrength, i ilow i
istrainof i ifracture i
and i iformwork i irequirement.
i iThe i imajor i idisadvantage i
iis i ithat i iconcrete i idevelops
i imicro i icracks i
during i icuring. i iIt i iis i ithe i
irapid i ipropagationof i ithese i
imicro i icracks i iunder i
iapplied i istress i ithat i iis i
responsible i ifor i ithe i
ilowtensile i istrength i iof i ithe
i imaterial. i iHence i ifibres i
iare i iadded i ito i iconcrete i
ito i
overcome ithese idisadvantages.
i
i
The i iaddition i iof i ifibres i iin
i ithe i imatrix i ihas i
imanyimportant i ieffects. i
iMost i inotable i iamong i
theimproved i
imechanicalcharacteristics i iof i
iFibre i iReinforced i iConcrete
i i(FRC) i iare i iits i
superiorfracture i istrength, i
itoughness, i iimpact i
iresistance, i iflexural i istrength
i iresistance i ito i ifatigue, i
improving ifatigue
iperformance iis ione iof ithe
iprimaryreasons ifor ithe
iextensive iuse i
of i iSteel i iFibre i iReinforced
iConcrete(SFRC)in ipavements,
i ibridge i idecks, i ioffshore i
istructures i iand i
machine i ifoundation,where i
ithe i icomposite i iis i
isubjected i ito i icyclically i
ivarying i iload i iduring i
itslifetime. i
 i
The i imain i ireasons i ifor i
iadding i isteel i ifibres i ito i
iconcrete i imatrix i iis i ito i
iimprovethe i ipost-
cracking i iresponse i iof i ithe i
iconcrete, i ii.e., i ito i iimprove
iits i ienergyabsorption i
icapacity i iand i iapparent i
ductility iand i ito i iprovide i
icrack i iresistanceand i icrack i
icontrol. i iAlso, i iit ihelps i ito
i imaintain i istructural i
integrityandcohesiveness iin
ithe imaterial. iThe i iinitial i
iresearches i icombined iwith
ithelarge ivolume i
offollow iup iresearch ihave iled
ito ithe idevelopment iof ia
iwidevariety iof imaterial
iformulations ithat i
fit ithe idefinition iof iFibre
iReinforcedConcrete. i
i
Steel i ifibre’s i itensile i
istrength, i imodulus i iof i
ielasticity, i istiffnessmodulus i
iand i imechanical i
deformations i iprovide i ian i
iexcellent i imeans i iof
iinternalmechanical i iinterlock.
i iThis i iprovides i ia i iuser i
friendly i iproduct i
iwithincreased i iductility i ithat
i ican i ibe i iused i iin i
iapplications i iof i ihigh i
iimpact i
andfatigue i iloading i iwithout i
ithe i ifear i iof i ibrittle i
iconcretefailure.Thus, i iSFRC i
iexhibits i ibetter i
performance i inot i ionly i
iunder i istatic i iand i iquasi-
statically i iapplied i iloads i
ibut i ialso i iunder i ifatigue, i
impact, iand iimpulsiveloading.
i
i
Concrete iis ione iof ithe imost icommonly iused imanmade imaterials ion iour

iplanet itoday. iIt iis ian iimportant imaterial ithat iis iused iextensively iin ithe

iconstruction iof ibuildings, ibridges, iroads iand idams. iThe iuses iof iconcrete irange

ifrom istructural iapplications ito ipaviours, ikerbs, ipipes iand idrains. iThis icomposite

imaterial iconsists imainly iof iPortland icement, iwater iand iaggregate i(gravel, isand ior

irock). iWhen imixed itogether, ithese imaterials iform ia iworkable ipaste ithat igradually

ihardens iover itime.

Unlike iother ibuilding imaterials isuch ias imetals iand ipolymers, ithe itensile

istrength iof iconcrete iis ipoor iand iit iis isignificantly imore ibrittle. iOther ithan ithat,

isteel iis iat ileast i100 itimes imore iresistant ito icrack igrowth ithan iconcrete iwhen iit

icomes ito ifracture itoughness ivalues. iTherefore, iconcrete, iin iservice, icracks ieasily.

iThis i icracking i ithen icreates i ieasy i iaccess i iroutes i ifor i ideleterious i iagents i

iresulting i iin i iearly isaturation, ifreeze-thaw idamage, iscaling, idiscoloration iand

isteel icorrosion.

In iorder ito ialleviate i(to ia ilarge iextent) ithe iconcerns iwith ithe iinferior

ifracture itoughness iof iconcrete, iit iis ireinforced iwith ifibers iof ivarious imaterials.

iThe iresulting iconcrete, iwhich iis itermed ifiber ireinforced iconcrete i(FRC), ihas ia

irandom idistribution iof ishort, idiscontinuous ifibers. iIt iis inow islowly ibecoming ia

iwell-accepted imainstream iconstruction imaterial. iIn ithe ilast ithirty iyears, isignificant
iprogress ihas ibeen imade itowards i iunderstanding i ithe i ishort i iand i ilong-term i

iperformances i iof i ifiber ireinforced i icementitious i imaterials. iBecause iof ithis, ia

inumber iof inovel iand iinnovative iapplications ihas ibeen idiscovered.